Peanuts are nutritious and an affordable, easily accessible health food. According to scientific research, peanuts contain large amounts of plant sterols, which are very beneficial to human health. In particular, beta-sitosterol helps prevent colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer, and cardiovascular diseases.
Microwave Five-Spiced Peanuts
Eating peanuts moistens the lungs and nourishes the blood
Peanuts are known as the "longevity fruit," "vegetable meat," and "the noble among vegetables." Eating more peanuts can supplement protein. Peanuts are sweet and neutral in nature, and can invigorate the spleen and stomach, moisten the lungs and resolve phlegm, and replenish qi and stop bleeding. They are used for symptoms such as emaciation due to spleen deficiency, poor appetite, fatigue, dry cough with little phlegm, and insufficient postpartum milk. Professor Li explained that the fat in peanuts can break down cholesterol in the liver into bile acids, promote excretion, and thus lower blood cholesterol levels, which helps prevent atherosclerosis.
However, peanuts are the crop most susceptible to Aspergillus flavus infection. According to research by Professor Li Peiwu, a doctoral supervisor at the Oil Crops Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, peanuts can be infected by Aspergillus flavus throughout the entire growth process, including while growing in the field. After harvest, affected by temperature, humidity, and storage conditions, peanuts are more prone to Aspergillus flavus infection. In the process of reproduction and metabolism, Aspergillus flavus produces a large amount of toxins (mainly aflatoxin B1), which contaminate peanuts and their products.
It has now been determined that this toxin may be present in improperly stored peanuts, peanut oil, peanut beverages, and peanut butter.